Fluids, or water in particular, are pressurised for a multitude of applications. One such application is in a desalination system using a reverse osmosis (RO) process for producing potable water. Seawater and brackish water are often used in the RO process. However, the seawater from a water source, for example the sea, has to be highly pressurised before it is supplied to the desalination system for the RO process to be performed.
High pressure pumps, for example displacement pumps, are conventionally used for drawing the seawater from the water source, pressurising the drawn seawater by compressing the seawater within a volume and supplying the pressurised seawater to the desalination system. However, the energy consumption of each of these pumps is high which results in high operating costs. Systems using these high pressure pumps require a variation of components to reduce water supply pulsation and prevent over-pressurisation of downstream pipes for conveying pressurised seawater.
There is hence a need for a pressurisation system for addressing the deficiencies of high pressure pumps.